MAYILADUTHURAI: A group of six youths from Cuddalore heading to Nagapattinam district to attend the annual feast of Velankanni shrine were arrested and remanded to the Central Prison in Tiruchy on Monday for allegedly beating to death a 35-year-old man accused of stealing their mobile phones when they were asleep.M
The group comprising Vetrivel (18), Ponniselvan (19), Balasubramaniyam (21), Dinesh (20), Sugumar (19) and Muthukamalesh (20), which was heading to Velankanni via Poraiyar, halted near Karuvizhanthanathapuram in Mayiladuthurai district on Saturday night.
Around 5 am, finding the group sleeping in an open ground, D Ilangovan of Melaperumpallam attempted to steal their mobile phones and power banks, C Nagavalli, an investigating police officer, said. The group beat him up and recovered the valuables.
They also dialled 100 and informed us of having assaulted the man, Nagavalli added. While the police arrived at the spot and took an injured Ilangovan to Mayiladuthurai General Hospital, the group from Cuddalore had resumed their pilgrimage by then.
Learning of the assault from Ilangovan before he passed away, a special team tracked down the six and arrested them en route to Velankanni, Nagavalli said. The Sembanarkoil police registered a case and produced the six accused before a magistrate in Mayiladuthurai and remanded them.